Auto White balance is the DEVIL!

[drbill]

Will definitely have to experiment with the darned thing. Being a scientist, I'm surprised I haven't already played with the settings since I've had it for a year now. The green "shadows" and backgrounds drive me absolutely crazy. If it is limited to the HC-7, I'll definitely either get rid of the darned thing or use it as a c=second camera topside.

 

[PerroneFord]

Your camera is sampling the green channel more often than any other channel since it uses it for luma information. White balancing against something slightly magenta should help a LOT. Additionally, turning down some of the chroma in the camera should also help quite a lot.

I'd bet doing both of these things will eliminate or greatly reduce that green cast you speak of.

 

[drbill]

Perrone, don't the other camcorders do similar sampling? Why would this one be the only one that casts shadows in green rather than shades of gray (or is it grey)?

 

[PerroneFord]

How many single CMOS HDV cameras have you seen low light footage from? Especially, when used in an environment that is nearly devoid of red light.

Send me a file with 10 seconds of your HDV footage. Let me take a look at it.

 

[khaled.alsibai]

Guys..

i am about to buy a new sony for my diving shooting i am between
HDR-HC9

and
HDR-SR12

i find the SR12 amazing but i am consurned about the video quality, is the Tape camera would give me better image? even the SR12 has bigger sensor size?

please help me to decide, thank you

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Auto WB is definitely not ideal. I firmly believe that having manual White Balance control is the most important feature when looking at a camera and housing combo. Many cameras out there have the option to use Manual WB, however few of the available housings allow access to that control.

 

[Fishbird]

To obtain professional results, you need a housing which allows a manual white balance. Every time you change depth or the light changes significantly, you hold out a white card (a slate works great) and manually white balance the camera. You will be amazed at the results. But you do need a housing that allows you to do that.

Jonathan

 

[jalvare2]

I do set white balance to AUTO, and point 15 seconds to a white board I carry with me to let the camera to adjust before every shot. two years ago I used a white label on the fin (scuba-pro gorila) that was great, but unfortunallu the cycle life of these good fins run out. And now with split fins I there was no way to stick large white lables on them.

Color correction while editing does the rest.

 

[paulpost]

I do set white balance to AUTO, and point 15 seconds to a white board I carry with me to let the camera to adjust before every shot. two years ago I used a white label on the fin (scuba-pro gorilla) that was great, but unfortunately the cycle life of these good fins run out. And now with split fins I there was no way to stick large white labels on them.

Color correction while editing does the rest.

Let's get it clear, AWB and 15 seconds aiming at a white slab or plate or what ever you have can do as good as an MWB? This would be great,. Let us know if this is what you meant.

 

[scubaman5000]

White balance against a blue card (or magenta if you are going to be in green water), shoot your video, and correct in post.

I'm new to underwater videography so I apologize if my question comes across as common sense to the rest of you.

I just purchased a Canon HV30 with an Ikelite housing. I uploaded some videos I shot this past weekend during a beach dive to youtube and it looks like I'm stuck in the emerald city. If I had used a magenta card to white balance my camera, would it have corrected the green look of everything? Would it have affected my video in other ways adversely?

Here's a link to the video I'm talking about.
YouTube - Deer Creek - May 18, 2008 - 1 of 3

Is using this technique of white balancing against a colored card an acceptable alternative to using a filter?